em>By Janie McCauley, Associated Press /em>
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Anderson Varejao lowered his 6-foot-11 frame into a runner's lunge and raised one arm high into the air to add a twist, demonstrating after a recent shootaround the new yoga pose he just learned.
Then, he took it up a notch and attempted an airplane balancing pose on one leg with his arms spread wide.
The Golden State Warriors have become yogis.
Coach Steve Kerr is committed to changing things up, and he gave Golden State a day off from the practice floor one day last week so the players could practice yoga instead. In the middle of a prolonged stretch at home with a more regular routine, the schedule allowed for some improvising.
'I really liked it,' Varejao said. 'I'm going to do more.'
Doubt you'll see Draymond Green or Klay Thompson doing downward-facing dog again soon — though Green might be talked into another try eventually.
'I'm bad,' Green said. 'Yoga isn't for everybody. I think it's a great thing, I just don't think my body is made for all of those different positions. I did well at a few of them. It's hard, it's tough. My body really isn't cut out for yoga.'
The very next night after the group class, during warmups for a home game with the Pistons, player development coach Bruce Fraser pulled his foot to his opposite inner thigh for an impromptu tree pose. He laughed as an amused Shaun Livingston watched from the baseline.
Andre Iguodala is an experienced yogi who can really cat-cow and is considered top on the team, often taking classes. Center Zaza Pachulia also can forward fold with the best of them. They took prominent positions in the class led by Lisa Goodwin, Golden State's director of corporate communications and also a yoga teacher, at a Berkeley studio — a first for Kerr taking the team away from team headquarters for a yoga session.
No surprise, two-time reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry can bring it on the mat, too.
'We've had some optional yoga sessions at our facility. This is the first time we took everybody and made it mandatory,' Kerr said. 'It was good.'
The temperature was about 92 degrees for the hour-long power vinyasa class, so it was steamy.
Everybody was drenched in sweat by the end for final resting pose, or savasana.
'My muscles felt good,' forward James Michael McAdoo said, rubbing his stomach where his core got a workout. 'It was fun. It was hot in there, like working in a sauna. I told our strength and conditioning coach, 'You got to step up your game. Lisa embarrassed us.''
'It's awful, it's pitiful,' Thompson said of his own yoga ability. 'It's something I worked on and it's something I actually enjoy. More than just being physically challenging, it's an incredible mental workout. It tests your pain tolerance and your ability to push yourself mentally. That's why I like it. It was really good. I think it helped a lot of us — everybody, even the coaches.'
Along with the experienced yoga veterans, there were some first-timers.
A few found it extremely tough.
'I'm not the most flexible,' acknowledged player development coach Chris DeMarco.
Assistant coach Mike Brown described his debut as 'terrible.'
'For me, it was really hard, but it was fun,' he said, later adding, 'I nearly passed out.'
Ron Adams, another assistant who focuses on preparing Golden State's defense, happened to work out in the hottest corner of the room for his first time practicing in that high temperature.
'It's such a cleansing exercise,' he said.
The Warriors aren't the only ones doing it.
Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy has scheduled yoga time for the Pistons, saying: 'It's got its value, no question about it. Would I consider doing it with them? Probably not.'
Kerr goes whenever he can fit it in, typically taking an hour-long class during the lunch hour on game days when the schedule — and his body — allows.
It's a time he can focus on taking some deep breaths, literally, away from the pressure-packed NBA workload and just be just another yoga student for 60 minutes out of his day.
This weekend marks one year since Kerr formally returned to the bench last Jan. 22 against Indiana after a lengthy leave of absence to deal with complications from a pair of back surgeries. Current Lakers coach Luke Walton led the way during a record 24-0 start and went 39-4 before Kerr's comeback on the way to winning Coach of the Year after an NBA record 73-9 finish.
While the 51-year-old Kerr still has some discouraging, physically challenging moments dealing with pain and headaches, he considers himself fortunate to be on the sideline doing what he loves.
'I guess normal is a good way to say it. He seems like his old self,' Curry said. 'You know he's been through a lot just physically trying to recover from the surgeries he's had. I can't imagine the frustration, how long it took and things he had to do and all the doctors he's met with. His whole story is crazy. We're obviously happy to have him back but not only that, you see him with energy and his presence like he wants. It's been good to see.'
Whether Kerr will take his team back to yoga any time soon, time will tell. The Warriors are at the season's midway point and the 'dog days' of January as Kerr has put it. Golden State was home for all but a night from Dec. 26 until leaving for Houston on Thursday for Friday's game against the Rockets, with just a quick bus ride to Sacramento as the lone road trip in a 10-game stretch during that span.
Because there was so much time to practice, the yoga day was a nice change of scenery.
'Just to get away and go do something else,' Green said. 'We're still together doing something productive. But, it's not for me.' .....»»

NEW YORK (AP) — TNT will use broadcast teams featuring only former players and no traditional play-by-play men during five NBA doubleheaders later this season.
The 'Players Only' schedule runs Monday nights from Feb. 27 to March 27 (Feb.28 to March 28, PHL time) and includes match-ups such as Golden State-Oklahoma City on March 20 (March 21, PHL time) and Cleveland-San Antonio a week later.
Brent Barry will serve as the primary host of one team with Derek Fisher and Grant Hill, while Greg Anthony partners with Kevin McHale and Richard Hamilton on the other.
Lisa Leslie and Dennis Scott will serve as reporters.
Turner Sports says Thursday that Chris Webber will anchor the studio coverage with Isiah Thomas and Baron Davis, and that additional NBA players will contribute to the five-week program. .....»»

With their playoff hopes fading fast, Mahindra is just out to take everything it can out of the last three games in its Philippine Cup schedule.
Losing to TNT Wednesday, the Floodbuster seem like a longshot of crashing the quarterfinals of the very first PBA conference this season.
However, that doesn't mean Mahindra has taken everything for a loss so far in its All-Filipino campaign.
“We’re still going game to game right now. We really have a nothing-to-lose-everything-to gain kind of attitude. It’s either we’re going to tank mode or we lift ourselves up from failure,' top deputy Chris Gavina said.
'I’m a big fan of believing that your failures lead to your success, so we’ll build off of this,' he added.
After going on a mini two-game winning streak that put life to their otherwise woeful season, the Floodbuster looked primed for an upset after taking over the KaTropa at halftime, erasing an early 10-point deficit to post a six-point lead.
Mahindra just wasn't able to sustain in the second half, leading to yet another disappointing defeat, it's sixth in eight games.
'It was a tough loss. We had the momentum for sure,' forward Alex Mallari said who ended up with a game-high 19 points for the Floodbuster.
'We had the momentum going into the second half and I don't know, we took off on the gas pedal. We Weren't aggressive,' he added.
Basically looking for a miracle to make the playoffs at this point, Mahindra need not look far to find recipe for success.
'At this stage for us, it's all about team basketball,' Mallari said.
'Just go back to our last two games where we succeeded. Just be aggressive. If you're open, shoot it. Get some threes up. Keep assists coming. We need a lot of it. And defense as a group -- me, including everybody. So we'll get back on the drawing board and try to get another win,' he added.
---
Follow this writer on Twitter, @paullintag8 .....»»

DOUG FERGUSON, AP Golf Writer
HONOLULU (AP) — Toto Gana hit what he described as the 'best shot I've hit in my whole life,' a wedge to 3 feet for a birdie to win the Latin America Amateur Championship and earn a trip to the Masters in April.
His best shot produced his biggest trophy.
Asked what his greatest achievement in golf was before his victory in Panama, the 19-year-old from Chile said: 'I didn't have any achievements, to be honest. I had won a couple of tournaments at home when I was really, really young.'
The Latin America Amateur completed its third year, a stroke-play tournament created by Augusta National, the USGA and the Royal & Ancient to spur growth in that part of the world. It follows the successful launch of the Asia Pacific Amateur.
The Asia Pacific Amateur is producing a higher pedigree of champions — Hideki Matsuyama won twice, and the winner last year was Curtis Luck, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion. The last two Latin America winners were surprises — Gana and 16-year-old Paul Chaplet of Costa Rica last year.
The other winner was Matias Dominguez of Chile, who was a junior at Texas Tech.
Gana said the only hard part about his victory was beating Joaquin Niemann of Chile, one of his best friends who won the Junior World in 2015 at Torrey Pines.
'I really never thought I could win this tournament because all the other players have won many other tournaments, very big tournaments,' Gana said in a conference call after his victory Sunday. 'What I did was keep a cool head. When I saw that I had a chance to win, I believed in myself that I could do. And I gave it my all.'
Chile will have a player represented at Augusta National for the second time in three years. The only other Chilean player at the Masters was Enrique Orellana, who missed the cut in 1964.
Gana has flair, and he showed how much passion he has for golf when explaining how he got started.
'When I was a little boy, 8 years old, my stepfather taught me to play golf on the practice range,' he said. 'When I shot a really nice shot, I never quit.'
Gana will be enrolling at Lynn University in Florida.
___
BLOOMING START: Justin Rose played the Sony Open as part of the new 'strength of field' regulation on the PGA Tour that requires players who played fewer than 25 events last year to add a tournament they had not played in four years.
Rose was so excited about this year that he might have started earlier if he would have been eligible.
He failed to win a PGA Tour event for the first time since 2009. But in a year slowed by injury, Rose geared himself for golf's return to the Olympics and won the gold medal in Rio. That was worth an exemption into the four majors (Rose already is eligible for them), but the PGA Tour did not offer a spot in SBS Tournament of Champions.
'I didn't inquire,' Rose said about Kapalua. 'But in my mind, I was surprised that it didn't count in a way, just because, why wouldn't it? It's a one-off thing.'
He thought maybe the tour would only give a spot to Kapalua if the gold medalist was already a PGA Tour member, much like it treated the HSBC Champions early on in its World Golf Championships history.
Rose chuckled, however, when he realized his history in Hawaii.
'It's funny enough, I don't have the right to say I should have been at Kapalua,' he said. 'Because I've won six years in a row and I've only been once.'
A birdie on the final hole at the Sony Open gave him second place alone, which was worth $648,000.
___
PLAYING TO HIS STRENGTH: Jason Dufner is the defending champion at the CareerBuilder Challenger, where he won last year for the first time since the 2013 PGA Championship at Oak Hill. What changed? Very little.
He attributed the drought to a neck and shoulder injury that he suffered at the 2014 Masters. Dufner tried to play through it all year until he was forced to pull out of his title defense in the PGA Championship at Valhalla, which kept him off the Ryder Cup team. Playing with the injury led to bad habits with his swing, which led to bad shots, too many memories of bad shots and eventually shattered confidence.
'People don't realize, once you start playing, you have to redo everything,' Dufner said. 'You see it with a lot of guys coming back. It takes them 6, 8, 12 months. I spent 2015 trying to get back to where I was.'
Where he wants to be is one of the top ball-strikers in the game.
As for putting? He manages.
Dufner has finished no higher than No. 143 in the key putting statistic over the last four years, and while he has to pay attention to his setup, it's not as though he's going to abandon what got him here (his swing) to pour everything into becoming Jordan Spieth.
'I've been putting bad for 17 years,' he said. 'It's tough to change. I can hit it good enough to make up for it. I'll wait for my weeks where I putt good and try to win.'
___
THE RACE TO MEXICO: Mackenzie Hughes won the RSM Classic, and his first thought was going to the Masters.
Now that it's beginning to sink, the Canadian rookie has reason to consider other tournaments that were not on his schedule at the start of the season. First up is the World Golf Championship in Mexico.
The top 10 in the FedEx Cup standings through the Honda Classic are eligible for the Mexico Championship, and there are only six tournaments between now and then.
That's also true for Pat Perez, who tied for third at Kapalua and is No. 3 in the FedEx Cup. Rod Pampling is at No. 6.
The other World Golf Championships event in March is based off the world ranking, so those three players have much more to do for them to get into the top 64. One player who might have secured his spot was Kevin Kisner, who shot 60 in the third round of the Sony Open and wound up in a tie for fourth. That took Kisner from No. 51 to No. 41, making it difficult to fall that far in two months.
___
DIVOTS: Justin Thomas moving to No. 8 in the world means that six of the top 10 players are under 30. ... The Golf Writers Association of America has voted former PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem for the William D. Richardson Award for outstanding contributions to golf. For the GWAA's award for press cooperation, it was a tie between Ben Crenshaw and Stewart Cink. They will be honored at the GWAA annual awards dinner on April 5 in Augusta. ... The three courses used for the CareerBuilder Challenge — PGA West Stadium Course, PGA West Nicklaus and La Quinta — ranked among the top 10 in easiest courses on the PGA Tour last year. ... The fourth Latin America Amateur Championship will be played at Prince of Wales Country Club next year in Santiago, Chile. ... The European Tour now has eight events in its Rolex Series with China-based HNA Group signing a five-year deal to be title sponsor of the French Open. That will raise the purse to $7 million in line with other Rolex Series events.
___
STAT OF THE WEEK: Justin Thomas hit 34 drives that went at least 330 yards during his two weeks in Hawaii — 20 on the Plantation Course at Kapalua, 14 at Waialae Country Club.
___
FINAL WORD: 'If there's no defense, then you ought to be able to make birdies. If there's wind, you ought to be struggling.' — Kevin Kisner. .....»»

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Rickie Fowler flew home from the 2016 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship with more than just the Falcon Trophy.
The win over a stellar field last January boosted Fowler's belief that a first major title was within sight. Lifting him to a career-high No. 4 in the rankings, it also sparked talk about whether he should be included in the conversation with golf's so-called 'Big Three,' which comprised Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy at the time.
'It would have been nice to kind of continue that form,' Fowler said Tuesday on his return to Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
Instead, that proved to be the only victory of 2016 for Fowler, the United States' triumph in the Ryder Cup notwithstanding. His best finish at a major was a tie for 33rd at the U.S. PGA Championship and he ended the year ranked outside the top 10.
U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama and — most recently — Justin Thomas are among those who have accelerated past Fowler, who said his dip in status is pushing him to play better in 2017.
'Golf's so deep right now,' Fowler said, 'and it will be nice if we can get Tiger back for a full season.'
Fowler's chances of a successful defense of his Abu Dhabi title improved Monday when McIlroy — at No. 2, the highest-ranked player in the field — withdrew because of a rib injury.
Still, the field remains strong, as always in this event which starts Thursday. The third-ranked Johnson is making his debut, while two more current major champions — Henrik Stenson and Danny Willett — are there, too.
'He's obviously one of the best players in the world,' Fowler said about McIlroy. 'It was fun to have him in contention with me last year here.
'Does that make me look at the tournament any differently? No. You know, it's one less top player in the world I'm going to have to beat, but the field here is one of the best fields on the European Tour.'
Refreshed after spending time over Christmas and the new year with family and friends, Fowler cannot wait to get back on the course. Particularly after seeing Thomas — one of his best friends — winning back-to-back events in Hawaii.
'It's inspiring and motivating,' said Fowler, currently the world No. 14.
Fowler's main focus is tailoring his schedule to give him the best chance at winning a major. He said that will mean playing events in the weeks leading up to the majors, rather than using that time to rest or work on the range.
The Masters is already in his sights. He was renowned as a slow starter to seasons until last year, when he won in Abu Dhabi and then lost the Phoenix Open in a playoff to nearly reduce him to tears.
That didn't translate to a good performance at Augusta National in April, though, as he opened with an 80 and failed to make the weekend.
'Obviously looking to peak,' Fowler said, 'getting the first few months going, heading the right direction and peak that first week of April.' .....»»

Former Ateneo de Manila Queen Eagle Alyssa Valdez promised to join the tryouts set by the Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas, Inc, for the national women’s team that will see action in the 29th Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian Games on August 19 to 31.
LVPI vice president Peter Cayco said that Valdez told him Saturday that the three-time UAAP Most Valuable Player will undergo the selection process just like other national squad aspirants.
The Manila tryout is on January 28, 29 and 31 with legs in Cebu and Davao set next month. Each aspirant must complete the three-day tryout. The names of the players that will make the 20-woman pool will be announced on the last week of February.
Valdez, a two-time UAAP champion who bannered the PHI team in the 2015 Singapore SEA Games, assured LVPI in a meeting with Cayco in the sports association’s office at Arellano-Taft before she flew to Thailand Sunday to join 3BB Nakornnont in the Thai League, that she will return home during the break to join any of the three tryouts.
“Nakapag-usap kami noong Saturday ang sabi niya sa akin uuwi siya para sa tryouts,” Cayco said Tuesday during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Rizal Memorial Complex Media Center.
Valdez will debut in the Thai League on January 29 making her unavailable for the Manila leg. She is expected to show up either in the Cebu or Davao leg.
National team head coach Francis Vicente, who discovered and molded Valdez into a star during her high school days as a University of Sto. Tomas player, pointed out that though Valdez is a cut above the rest with her volleyball skills, leadership and fan base she will still go under the scrutiny of the selection committee.
“Alam naman natin na Alyssa Valdez is angat, sikat and sa akin din galing yan pero ayaw ko na kukunin ko na siya na, ‘O halika na rito wag ka na mag-tryout.’ Unfair naman ‘yun sa iba,” said Vicente. “Unfair naman yun kina Myla Pablo kina Grethcel Soltones e magaling din naman sila. Ayokong mabansagan na may kinikilingan. If she really wants to play in the national team kailangan niyang pumunta sa tryouts, no special treatment.”
LVPI president Joey Romasanta commended the gesture of Valdez, who served as the country’s flag-bearer during the last SEA Games, saying that her willingness to join the tryouts during her break in the Thai League.
“’Yung sinabi ni Alyssa na uuwi siya rito to join the tryout for the national team is very commendable and a manifestation of her being a true athlete and her sincerest desire to serve the country via the national team,” said Roamsanta. “Ako, we are very hopeful that during the breaks in her (Thai League) schedule she will be able to join any of those tryouts.”
---
Follow this writer on Twitter, @fromtheriles
.....»»

em>By Brian Mahoney, Associated Press /em>
NEW YORK (AP) — Dennis Schroder gave the Hawks the lead and the New York Knicks had three chances to take it back.
Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony and Joakim Noah, whom they hoped would be the backbone of a contending team, all failed from inside a few feet.
'When things are not going your way, sometimes they go all the way left,' Anthony said. 'That's a shot that I think I could hit in my sleep.'
Schroder scored 28 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 22 seconds left, to lead the Hawks to a 108-107 victory on Monday (Tuesday, PHL time).
Tim Hardaway Jr. added 20 points and Paul Millsap had 17 for the Hawks, who won for the ninth time in 10 games to reach the midpoint of their schedule at 24-17.
'Guys got heart on this team,' said Millsap, who blocked Rose's shot on a drive to the basket before Anthony missed a fairly easy follow. 'Guys compete and when you compete good things happen.'
Anthony scored 30 points for the Knicks, who changed their lineup but it wasn't quite good enough. They lost for the 11th time in 13 games.
The Hawks rested Dwight Howard, while the Knicks were without Kristaps Porzingis again because of a sore left Achilles tendon.
They gave undrafted rookie Ron Baker his first career start and moved Courtney Lee to the bench. Baker helped spark a 10-0 run to start the fourth with a pair of three-pointers, but Schroder kept the Hawks in it all the way while making 13-of-16 shots.
'We knew they were going to make their run,' Hardaway said. 'Their second group does a tremendous job raising the intensity on both ends of the floor. We just had to match that.'
It was a much better effort for the Knicks than Sunday (Monday, PHL time), when they reached an embarrassing low by being outscored 27-8 in the third quarter of a 116-101 loss at Toronto.
But as usual with the Knicks, the game was only a minor part of the chaos. Anthony responded to questions about a Fanragsports.com piece written by Charley Rosen, a Phil Jackson confidante, that said he had 'outlived his usefulness in New York' by saying that maybe he needed to have a conversation with Jackson if he felt that way.
It's unclear if Jackson does, because he has barely spoken publicly this season and not at all to the New York media since preseason, though Rosen posted another piece Monday that his thoughts were his alone.
Anthony said he hadn't heard from Jackson and didn't need to.
'My job is to go out there and play ball and I'm not concerned about that,' Anthony said.
Anthony made buzzer-beaters to end the second and third quarters, but the Knicks needed one more.
'I was surprised he missed that one,' Millsap said. 'He's made a bunch of tough shots.'
strong>TIP-INS /strong>
em> strong>Hawks: /strong> /em>The Hawks have won five in a row on the road, their longest streak since a 12-game run in the 2014-15 season. Hardaway, a former Knicks guard, had his ninth 20-point game of the season.
em> strong>Knicks: /strong> /em>The Knicks were also without forward Lance Thomas because of a fractured left orbital bone.
strong>MARTIN KING LUTHER JR. DAY STATS /strong>
The Hawks improved to 17-9 on the holiday, with seven straight victories. The Knicks fell to 20-11 with a two-game winning streak snapped.
strong>CARMELO CONCERNS /strong>
Anthony has a no-trade clause and would need to agree to any deal. Coach Jeff Hornacek, though only in his first season here, says Anthony, like all players, has to deal with trade speculation.
'I think he does a great job of dealing with it and handling that kind of stuff. But does it affect him? I am sure it does in some way,' Hornacek said. 'But hopefully like most players, the trade deadline comes and goes every year.'
strong>UP NEXT /strong>
em> strong>Hawks: /strong> /em>Visit Detroit on Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time). The teams have split two meetings, with the Pistons winning 121-85 in Atlanta on Dec. 2 (Dec. 3, PHL time).
em> strong>Knicks: /strong> /em> Visit Boston on Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time). The Knicks have lost four straight in the series and four in a row in Boston. .....»»

Call him Mr. Clutch or Mr. Automatic, either way, Alex Cabagnot will get it done if San Miguel needs him to make a crucial basket.
He's done it many times before and he did again for the Beermen Friday, forcing overtime against Rain or Shine with one second to go in regulation, capping a bizarre sequence that saw the two-time defending Philippine Cup champs forgetting how to call timeout even if they still had two left.
'That's why I'm on the floor so I think that'll be a hindrance if I don't do that for the team,' Cabagnot sait following San Miguel's 107-101 victory over ROS.
'The team trusted me to do [take that crucial shot] and I just have to take full responsibilty for that,' he added.
Thanks to Cabagnot's heroics, San Miguel has now won seven games in a row for a league-best 8-1 mark. With a quarterfinal slot already in the bag, the Beermen are not expected to drop to lower than second place especiall with the way they are playing and with two games to go in their schedule.
But with those two games spread over the next two weeks, Mr. Clutch, or Mr. Automatic, whichever name you prefer, would like that champs to keep their focus.
'I think there's a 90 percent chance for us making it [as solo No. 1],' Cabagnot said.
'We'll just gonna try not to create bad habits in the last two games. It's a long layover, we'll just continue to play fundamentally,' he added.
---
Follow this writer on Twitter, @paullintag8 .....»»

The ghost of the Philippine Cup has come back to haunt Meralco for the second straight season.
After faulty effort against Mahindra, the Bolts have now lost five straight games in the All-Filipino, dropping them to last place with a 2-6 mark.
This performance comes after Meralco finished 1-10 in the very same conference last season. Naturally, frustration is starting to creep into the franchise.
However, the Bolts are not about to be consumed by the dark side just yet.
'Part of the game yun, natalo. Ngayon kailangan namin mag-effort every game lalo on defense,' veteran Reynel Hugnatan said who led the squad with 28 points vs. the Floodbuster.
'Pag natalo ka, lahat ng mali nandun. Try namin mag-focus sa next game,' he added.
Fresh from making the Finals in the Governors' Cup, Hugnatan couldn't quite figure out what's wrong every time Meralco plays in a conference featuring only Filipino players.
'Ewan ko, di ko masagot eh. Lahat naman sa practice nakikita ko na parang lahat nagwo-work har. Pagdating sa game ewan ko ano nangyayari,' he said.
With three games left in their schedule though, the Bolts' sole focus now is try and sneak into the playoffs as one of the lower seeds.
'I think we have a chance pa. Kaya di namin iniisip kung ano pa mangyayaru basta kami trabaho lang,' Hugnatan said.
---
Follow this writer on Twitter, @paullintag8 .....»»

Filipina volleyball superstar Alyssa Valdez will be away for four months to play overseas but promised to still see action in the next season of the V-League.
Valdez is set to leave for Thailand on January 15 to join 3BB Nakornnont for the second round of the Thai League and for the Thai-Denmark Super League which will run until the second week of April.
But the former Ateneo de Manila Queen Eagle said that she’ll return after her stint in Thailand to play in the 14th season of the V-League.
“Yun nga din. Well I think naiintindihan din naman nila (V-League) ang schedule so I guess if aabot or may team din na willing tanggapin ako kahit may mga ganoong circumstances OK naman ‘yun sa akin. Pero then again if wala naman Ok lang din sa akin,” said the three-time UAAP Most Valuable Player.
The V-League will open in March with the staging of the Reinforced Conference. If a V-League team taps Valdez, the open hitter won’t be available until midway in the conference.
“Basta no matter what kung aabot ako o hindi ako aabot. Kung may willing magpalaro sa akin, basta kung kaya lalaro naman talaga ako here,” added the 23-year-old two-time UAAP champion.
Valdez last played for Bureau of Customs in the V-League Reinforced Conference, leading the young team to a runner-up finish after absorbing a Finals series sweep against powerhouse Pocari Sweat in the import-laden season-ending tournament.
But the pride of San Juan, Batangas’ contract with BoC has expired after the conference and she is open to entertain other interested clubs. Valdez played for BaliPure in the Open Conference before transferring to BoC.
“Wala akong (contract sa BoC) kasi di ba new season, new year na din? So I think it’s a brand new discussion and brand new (contract) na rin,” said Valdez.
Valdez debuts for 3BB Nakornnont, where she will be reunited with BoC teammates Kanjana Kuthaisong and Nattanicha Jaisaen, on January 29.
---
Follow this writer on Twitter, @fromtheriles .....»»

Just like he has done throughout the 2016 Asean Basketball League, Ray Parks Jr. yet again proved last Sunday that he was the star of the show.
Stuffing the stat sheet anew with 28 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, Parks Jr. lifted Alab Pilipinas back over .500.
The Filipino-American impressed so much that he even had teammate 33-year-old James Hughes, a longtime veteran of basketball, gushing. “He’s a tough guy. I’ve seen a lot of guys throughout my career and he’s one of the tougher guys,” Hughes expressed.
He then continued, “Not only is he talented, but he’s also smart. He knows the game at such a young age.”
That young age, 23 to be exact, is also what the American reinforcement jokingly hoped to take away from his new teammate. “He’s really young. I wish I could steal some of his youth,” he quipped while chuckling.
Still, even with Parks Jr. forming a new bond with Hughes and rekindling his relationship with also new import Sampson Carter, head coach Mac Cuan said it’s far from smooth sailing for Alab. “There’s a concern for us kasi we really can’t gauge kung nasaan kami sa liga kasi dalawa pa lang yung team na nalalaro namin,” he shared.
The Filipinos have played five games in the tournament and have gone three-of-three against Kaohsiung and zero-for-two against Singapore. That means that defending champion Malaysia, strong-starting Hong Kong, and dangerous Saigon are yet to come in the schedule.
Nonetheless, Cuan was nothing but glad that they already have three wins to show – considering they only held their first-ever practice with one week to go before the season. “Blessing din na we played Kaohsiung kasi nag-aadjust pa lang din sila. So kahit nag-aadjust pa lang kami, nakakuha na kami ng dalawang panalo,” he said.
Even the defeats at the hands of the Slingers had a silver lining in the Alab mentor’s eyes. As he put it, “Yung two losses naman, just really mental lapses in the end. We were there in the game and that’s why I believe we can match up with everybody.”
---
Follow this writer on Twitter, @riegogogo. .....»»

Just like he has done throughout the 2016 Asean Basketball League, Ray Parks Jr. yet again proved last Sunday that he was the star of the show.
Stuffing the stat sheet anew with 28 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, Parks Jr. lifted Alab Pilipinas back over .500.
The Filipino-American impressed so much that he even had teammate 33-year-old James Hughes, a longtime veteran of basketball, gushing. “He’s a tough guy. I’ve seen a lot of guys throughout my career and he’s one of the tougher guys,” Hughes expressed.
He then continued, “Not only is he talented, but he’s also smart. He knows the game at such a young age.”
That young age, 23 to be exact, is also what the American reinforcement jokingly hoped to take away from his new teammate. “He’s really young. I wish I could steal some of his youth,” he quipped while chuckling.
Still, even with Parks Jr. forming a new bond with Hughes and rekindling his relationship with also new import Sampson Carter, head coach Mac Cuan said it’s far from smooth sailing for Alab. “There’s a concern for us kasi we really can’t gauge kung nasaan kami sa liga kasi dalawa pa lang yung team na nalalaro namin,” he shared.
The Filipinos have played five games in the tournament and have gone three-of-three against Kaohsiung and zero-for-two against Singapore. That means that defending champion Malaysia, strong-starting Hong Kong, and dangerous Saigon are yet to come in the schedule.
Nonetheless, Cuan was nothing but glad that they already have three wins to show – considering they only held their first-ever practice with one week to go before the season. “Blessing din na we played Kaohsiung kasi nag-aadjust pa lang din sila. So kahit nag-aadjust pa lang kami, nakakuha na kami ng dalawang panalo,” he said.
Even the defeats at the hands of the Slingers had a silver lining in the Alab mentor’s eyes. As he put it, “Yung two losses naman, just really mental lapses in the end. We were there in the game and that’s why I believe we can match up with everybody.”
---
Follow this writer on Twitter, @riegogogo. .....»»